Hes Just A Girl, Your Honour

he’s just a girl, your honour

titans of tomorrow

aftermath:

I’m back. With more art for Banshee in a Well!!!!!

(on ao3 by @liverobinreaction / @bugbeee)

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Firstly, my favourite dynamic in the fic was Tim & Cass

Best siblings ever, the last chapter gave me so much healing. She really was there for Tim and comforted him.

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Arms wrap around him, warm and familiar, a head of black hair tucking into his neck as he freezes. Cassandra has always been the strongest of them all, and he can feel it in the way she’s gripping him like he’ll disappear any moment now, body trembling and face wet from where it’s pressed against his skin.

Carefully, Tim brings his arms up to hold Cass back. She’s always cried loudly, almost out of spite for the silence beaten into her as a child. But right now, she weeps without a sound. He swallows, his own eyes burning as he buries his face into her collarbone, fingers twisting into the sweater he recognises as his own.

Neither of them says a word for a while. They just hold onto one another and try to breathe.

“I am not leaving. Not again. Not anymore.”

“Cass,” he says, voice dangerously close to cracking, but she just squeezes his wrists gently.

“It is not okay,” she whispers brokenly, but with a kindness he hates and loves in equal measure, “and that is alright.”

“Cry, stupid,” she says, voice trembling.

And Tim-

Tim breathes.

And he finally breaks.

He collapses forward into his sister, chest heaving with sobs that practically tear their way out of his throat, and it hurts more than any death he’s died before. Cass is crying with him, loud and open, but she doesn’t stop holding him, she doesn’t let him go for a second.

(God I eat up all these quotes from the fic. THE AUTHOR IS AMAZING I LOVE THEIR WRITING SO MUCH) *proceeds to ugly cry during every reread*

Timelapse:

Post time stream rescue Tim’s not doing too swell. He’s moved out of the manor, drifted away from his family, is over worked, and in his spiral has convinced himself that no one would care if he disappeared.

Logically he knows this isn’t true. He loved his family and he knows how his family shows him love, but it’s Tim. That little voice is always there in the back of his head. “If i disappeared would they care because suddenly I’m not here to do all the work or because I’m their brother and I’m missing.”

He had zero intention of figuring this out. In fact when that voice got too loud he’d pack up his bag and go spend the weekend at the manor, or longer if need be until that little voice quieted down.

Unfortunately for Tim, during one of his worst low self esteem spirals, he got taken for surprise, knocked over the head, and thrown off a building.

Lady Gotham, refusing to see one of her knights fall, used all her stored up strength to summon a “natural” portal to the infinite realms.

When Tim wakes up, he’s in a bed, in a castle, and the sky outside the window is green. Also he doesn’t have any memories. He knows his name and his age. He’s still stupidly clever, but when a guy in a black and white jump suit literally floats through the door and asks him about himself he can’t say much else.

Which is a problem.

Danny had been minding his business, going about his ghost king duties when some of his knights rushed in carrying a very much alive teenager. Which no problem, this happens all the time. Living people slip into the realms all the time. Usually they can get some basic information about the person and the world they live in and get them back to the right dimension but context clues are needed.

The ghost writer needs context clues to be able to begin a process of elimination for which dimension you originate from.

How long ago was you last ice age? What’s the current year? Who won world War II? Did you *have* a WWII? Do heroes exist in your universe? Do people with special powers exist? Are your polar ice caps still frozen? How far has space travel advanced?

With each answer they can begin crossing out possible dimensions until they reach the right one “usually.”

The issue is that Tim doesn’t have memories, which became very obvious when Danny started asking him questions. He just wanted to know what happened to land Tim into the infinite realms but he couldn’t remember and unfortunately there’s no readily available dimensional ID people carry around because dimensional travel is…not very common.

So Danny is stuck. He also can’t leave Tim exposed in the zone for too long else he starts transitioning to a more liminal existence, but he can’t return Tim to his dimension because they don’t know what dimension he’s from. Obviously Tim is a hero based on the garb he’s wearing, which is something to start with, but narrowing down dimensions with heroes still leaves them with…too many options. And there’s always the chance that this kid is just a really dedicated cosplayer for their favorite comic book so really how sure can they be?

Danny sorta hopes some memories will start to come back and Takes Tim home with him to his dimension.

Some ground facts. Danny’s parents know he’s phantom and accept this. As soon as Danny told them they did a 180 and basically de ghost proofed the house so Danny would be safe. Also, as the ghost king, Danny was able to tell the ghosts to finally leave him the fuck alone. They have a rotating schedule for social fights now so Danny can actually finish school with decent grades.

So when Danny steps through the portal into his parents Lab with Tim in tow, they start rolling with it. Tim is set up in their guest room, Jazz is coming back home this next weekend with a few idea’s on how to help Tim get his memories back, and Sam and Tucker have been filled in on what’s going on.

For the most part they go about life as if nothings changed. They tell the school that Tim’s a cousin visiting from out of state for health related reasons. They don’t enroll him in school, but Tim is allowed to hang out in the school’s library while Danny has classes (it’s a small town, the rules are lax).

Tucker is the one who picks up that Tim’s a tech genius. He was working on an app or new program and Tim was looking over his shoulder while he worked. “Their’s an easier way to program this.” Tim said absently. Tucker shrugged, slid his laptop over to Tim and watched this kids fingers fly over the keyboard. “Dude how do you know how to do this?” Tucker asked him, debating whether or not to beg this man to teach him his tricks or bow down and worship his almighty skills because what he’d just done was masterful. “I was the teams’s hacker. Meta’s are all good and fine when doing infiltration, but if we needed stealth I was usually called in.”

Tucker immediately went to write that down. New information. Tim’s dimension has Meta’s. Tucker assumed it was just another word for people with super powered abilities. They passed it on to ghost writer who informed them there were still way too many dimensions.

The next breakthrough happened when Danny was training with his mom. Maddie had taught both her kids how to protect themselves as she was well versed in many types of martial combat. They were having practice spars in the back yard with Tim sitting on the back steps watching. Maddie was the one who caught it. There was something about the way Tim was watching them spar that made her believe he was well versed. So he invited him onto the mat and they went ham.

Tim was laughing and somewhere along the lines he mentioned how he hadn’t had this much fun sparing since his young Justice days. Gently, Maddie pried while they continued their dance and they learned that Tim had been a hero named Robin and had been on a team with 3 other sidekicks named Superboy, Impulse, and Wonder Girl.

This narrowed down the list considerably to the point where Danny could take a weekend to send out members of the royal army to peak into each dimension and see if they could find someone with Tim’s name and Face who was missing.

They did learn Tim’s last name was Drake and in all the dimensions they visited he was either present and accounted for or already dead. Still Danny knew they were moving in the right direction. By this point Tim had been living at Fenton works for 2 months. He somehow seemed healthier than when he first arrived, and Danny loved having him around. Tim was awesome, and because of that he knew somewhere someone was desperately trying to find him so he’d get Tim home one way or another.

It was during this search that Danny felt a familiar tug on his core. Someone was summoning him. He could usually peak his head through invisibly and catch a glimpse of who was summoning him. He typically ignored cults, and if he had the energy he would show up at the random sleepover or two. Sometimes hero’s would summon him and typically he’d send someone in his place cause they were usually looking for help and most of the royal knights were trained by fright knight and could handle any issues the hero’s needed.

Because Danny was already looking into hero dimensions, and the people summoning him were clearly hero’s he accepted the summons and popped into the circle in all he kingly regalia.

“Hello!” He greets to the 13 or so people in the room and oh look at that! Are they in space? Danny’s pretty sure he’s physically vibrating right now keeping himself in this circle. He loves maping the stars in different dimension. Loves seeing how they differ from his own. “You’ve reached the King of the Infinte realms. How can I help you.”

Danny focused on an older guy in a trench coat who was radiating the same magic as the circle. He would be leading this conversation if he’d informed the group correctly. If anyone else spoke directly to him the circle would break. Not that this or any circle could actually bind Danny.

“We’re looking for someone who may be in your realm.” Trench coat began and Danny frowned.

“You know conversations usually start with introductions. I’ll start. I’m King Daniel Phantom, ancient of space, Guardian of doors, lover of the stars yada yada yada. May I inquire as to who has summoned me?”

“You can call me Constantine, these colorful folks behind me are the Justice league.”

“Right, well call me Danny. You said you’re looking for someone. If he’s a dead soul, I can’t help ya. Hades deals with spirits of the dead in his little corner of the infinite realms. I could definitely enroach upon his territory if I wanted to because it’s part of the realms and I rule the realms but that guy is a grade A asshole and I tend to leave him be. Now if he’s a ghost I might be able to help, but the realms are infinite and even I don’t know how many denizens are there. by the time we run a census on any of the city states, most have doubled in population..”

Oh yes, the inner workings of the realm were…stupid and complicated. No wonder there were so many observants. Not the point.

“There’s a difference between a soul and a ghost?” Someone asked and there went the power of the circle. Damn these heroes were dumb. Constantine looked panicked but Danny simply floated there with a hand on his chin wondering how much he could info dump before they got annoyed.

“Souls are what pass on into hades. Hades zone takes the form of whatever afterlife the passing believed in. Sometime, however, a person who passes has been exposed to enough ectoplasm that their soul reforms into something new. Those are ghosts. Their existence relies heavily on emotions, hence you run into a lot ghosts who died in gruesome or painful ways, or ghosts who feel way too much in their passing.” It’s why there were entire cities in the realm just full of ghosts who couldn’t pass on. “Usually if a ghost wishes to pass on to the actual after life they submit a request and it goes through me or my council. Those requests usually come from the more passively formed ghosts though. The ones who had too many regrets when they passed or were scared or left people behind. It’s a complicated system and not what you called me here to explain I’m sure. Anyway, do you think this person is a ghost or a soul. If they’re a soul I might be able to convince Hades to let them come say goodbye but can’t gaudente that. Again, grade A asshole, that one.”

“As far as we know he was alive when he fell through the portal.”

“The portal?” To answer to his question, someone held up a tablet and played some video footage. Sure enough that was Tim falling through a conveniently placed “natural portal.” Danny fucking loved sentient cities. No way that portal would have formed their other wise. “When did this happen?”

“A 2 weeks ago.” Only 2 weeks? Damn it had been two months back in Danny’s dimension. Time fluctuations were weird.

“So a hero falls through a weird green portal and it takes a 2 weeks for you to summon me? Why the ghost king specifically.” It was constantine who answered him.”

“I summoned a couple of demons first. They pointed me in your direction. Took me a while to find a circle that worked.”

“Oh ho ho?” Danny’s grin grew sharp. All teeth and too many of them. A few heroes flinched back, but Danny ignored them. “Demons you say? Happen to remember their names?” Someone was getting their ass handed to them later. Danny had sent notice out that he had a missing person they were trying to find the home dimension of. Fucking Hades and his shitty ass demons. He was not letting this slight slide. Hades may technically be an ancient, but Danny was still King and figured it was about time for another reminder.

Constantine rattled them off and Danny nodded, committing them to memory. “Good news is I know where Tim is. He’s got Amnesia so I dropped him off with a friend from the dimension I originate from and they’ve been taking care of him while I searched for his home dimension. Do you know how many dimensions I have to comb through. Ugh, whatever. The issue is that there’s a time difference between here and the dimension he’s staying in. 2 months have passed as opposed to your 2 week. I can guarantee if I leave to go get him now at least two days will pass before you see me again. I will go get him, obviously, just wanted to let you know what to expect. My teams hope is that when he gets back to his home dimension his memories will start coming back faster, but it’s an unknown. He was lightly concussed when was brought to me, but that’s healed. Our guess is that either someone hit him just right or the sudden shift in dimensions messed with his memory. He’s been remembering things slowly, but it’s only bits and pieces. Other than that he’s healed and completely healthy.”

“That’s…the best news we’ve heard all week.” Danny gave Nightwing a soft understanding smile , probably picking up on the waves of relief pouring off of him.

“Right, I’ll be back with him soon then.”

Nightwing barely managed to keep it together until Danny was gone. As soon as the ghost king left through his own portal the vigilanti had collapsed to the ground, the relief of a possible answer to his missing brother overwhelming him. Cass was by his side immediately, reassuring him that the ghost had seemed honest in his body language at least and had come across as relieved despite all his rambling.

It had been a horribly hectic 2 weeks. Tim hadn’t checked in at the end of his patrol and Tim always checked in. That was the first red flag. So oracle traced his steps, found the last sighting of Tim on top a building near the narrows. It was clear that he wasn’t 100%. Tim was exhausted, and he’d stopped to take a breather after finishing a fight only for someone to sneak up behind him and hit him off the roof. The sheer panic of Tim possibly being dead in an alleyway nearly sent Dick into a panic attack, but halfway down the building the shadows condensed into…something, and a portal opened up right before Tim his the ground. The portal itself…was weird. It was a familiar green and that was terrifying.

Everyone knew about the weird mini war going on between Ra’s and Tim and that green was familiar. There weren’t a lot of League basses left, but Dick found them and together with his family they tore them apart. Still no Tim. So they called in the magic users and Constantine had said it seemed familiar but he’d ask around. Apparently that meant demons, and they all snickered when asked.

“Lost and found ain’t our department. If you want answers talk to the king.” At least that was a clue in the right direction. It ended in all the bats and half the Justice league scouring the world for information on a summoning circle for a new king because the old one was dead…or something.

Even the circle they’d used today was a long shot, but their the king was Daniel Phantom. Couldn’t be any older than Tim, and was also the king?

Constantine was laughing in that hysterical way of his. “You released him from his circle. I told you not to ask him questions or the circle would break. Ghosts rule through right of conquest. That kid defeated the previous king, the mad tyrant, in single combat. He is arguably the strongest being in existence and you should all be grateful he seems like a goofy kid because he could have wiped us out without a second thought.”

Dick ignored him. Taking a deep breath for the first time since Tim went missing. Two more days. He could handle two more days.

Danny returned home with good news obviously. The bad news was that they were saying goodbye to someone they now considered a friend. And even though Tim was excited to finally find he’s actual home and maybe get his memories back, he also seemed sad to go as well. So Danny pulled Tim around town, let him say goodbye to everyone he wanted to. Then piled Tim, Sam, and Tucker into the speeder, and sliced a hole through the realms into Tim’s dimension.

The portal opened right over where the summoning circle used to be. No one was their yet. That was probably Danny’s fault. He hadn’t exactly informed them where he’d be coming back to. Oh well, they’d figure it out soon enough. He shifted back to his human form and huddled next to the speeder with the the others until Nightwing came sprinting through the door and practically tackled Tim into a hug. Danny and co held back for a moment, watching as Tim went from confused, to defensive to practically melting into the hug. It was like something in his eyes cleared for the first time and the crew knew Tim would be okay.

They stood to the side as more bat/bird themed individuals came in, as Tim was surrounded by people he immediately recognized and hugged. It was heart warming. And then Tim dragged everyone over to the speeder.

“Guys, this is Sam, Tucker, and Danny. They looked out for me while I was missing and helped me find my way home.” Some awkward introductions were passed around. Dick hugged everyone.

Tucker handed Tim a phone that was programmed to be able to communicate between dimensions. Sam gave him a plant and made him swear to deliver it to pamala Isley. Danny just…

Actually Danny doesn’t do anything before Tim pulls him into a massive hug. “I expect you to visit me.”

“Not sure I could ignore you if we’re being honest. Your definitely one of the more interesting missing persons cases I’ve dealt with. Also Tucker will miss his hacking buddy.” Tim laugh and it felt like the most beautiful thing Danny had heard. “I bet I can bribe clockwork into resetting my dimensions time rate so that ours can match.”

“Aww, you’d do that for me?” And the shit eating grin told Danny he was teasing him. Jokes on Tim though. Loyalty’s his fatal flaw, and half his obsession is protection. How’s he gonna protect the newest member of his friend group if they’re not aging the at same rate?

“I’d do a lot for you Tim. Don’t test me. Sam and Tuck already tried; it did not end well.” For the other guy. “Now go have your happy reunion with you family. Shoot us a message when you want to hang out.”

So with one final goodbye Danny and Co head home and Tim returns to Gotham with his family.

When Danny visits Gotham later on the first thing he does is track down Lady Gotham and gives her the energy boost she rightly deserves. He thanks her as well for looking out for her hero’s so well.

All in all it’s a happy ending. Also somehow word spread about the absolute throw down Danny had planned for Hades because his demons kept important information from the king, and their was a crowd for that beat down. Naturally Danny won.

Been thinking of an AU on and off for a few days (after consuming a few dozen sad boy Tim fics because yassss) where once Bruce is stabilized as Batman, when he’s back on better terms with Dick and the League, Tim looks around and is like “Yup, I did my job. Catch you guys later.” And just walks back to Drake Manor.

There’s something sad and yet blindingly, ironically hilarious about Tim choosing to walk out of the Batfam without any real fanfare. Bruce is waiting for Tim to patrol, walks over and Tim is like “bro I was just the temp you needed to get your shit together. You’re well enough to find a long term investment orphan.” and Bruce is just boggled, uncomfortable and very stressed.

Queue everyone trying to pssp pssp pssp Tim back into being Robin and Tim is like “No, no, this is a great opportunity for Bruce to find himself a real child and partner.” I always want to emphasize Tim is also doing reckless and weird shit on his own, he’s definitely going back to his stalker tendencies, taking pictures of crime for evidence then stopping it. Just not as Robin. But he’s very much pretending to be a normal little boy to everyone. 

The Bats are stressing because Tim won’t come home. I want Tim coming back over to Wayne Manor like a frustrated lawyer on OT helping Bruce to pick out a suitable orphan. I want the Titans to shrug and just start hanging out with Tim outside of the costume in increasingly more harrowing incidents that basically are hero missions but they claim are just “normal teen activities”. Jason and later Damian come into the picture and are mad at Tim who, meanwhile, is very insistent that the Waynes didn’t even like him and he wasn’t supposed to be Robin. Jay is looking at B like “what the fuck did you do to this kid?” and Bruce is fighting off a headache saying “Nothing, he came like this”